


first light

by cloudydaays



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Break Up, F/M, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:48:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26418253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudydaays/pseuds/cloudydaays
Summary: Katara and Zuko break up.What happens next is up to them. (with a little help from the Gaang, of course.)
Relationships: Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Sokka (Avatar), Katara & Suki (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Katara, Toph Beifong & Zuko
Comments: 2
Kudos: 83





	first light

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [What if we ruin it all](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3163403) by [dropshipheroes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dropshipheroes/pseuds/dropshipheroes). 



> hello!
> 
> the world is a shitshow! i hope you're all hanging in there.
> 
> loosely inspired by a bellarke fic - check it out if you vibe with bellarke!

Sokka is the first to find out. 

A call from Zuko, his bro, his homie, pops up on his cell and he accepts it just like he would any other call from Zuko.

“Yo, my dude, what’s popping?” Sokka smiles easily, expecting a dinner invite or some mundane life update.

Zuko’s voice is always raspy and harsher than the average person’s, but the first warning sign is how choked and forced it sounds.

“Call Katara. Please.”

Sokka’s brow furrows, a little confused. “Wait, what? Is everything okay?”

“Just. Please.” And with that, Zuko hangs up the phone.

Now, more than mildly concerned, Sokka dials the most frequently used number from his contacts. She doesn’t pick up for several rings, during which Sokka’s mind spins, wondering what on earth could be going on.

Maybe it’s some sort of prank? Or some surprise Suki has set up with the help of Katara and Zuko. That wouldn’t be too unusual.

When she picks up, at last, Sokka’s managed to convince himself it’s fine. After all, if it were really serious, Zuko would have mentioned something. 

“Katara? What’s going on?” The first noise he hears from the other side is a sob and his big brother sixth sense flares up right away. “Where are you? I’m on my way right now.”

“No, it’s not – "

Her voice is distorted by a level of emotional hysteria he doesn’t remember hearing in his sister’s voice for a long time. He tries to mentally catalog what could possibly be causing this kind of – 

“We broke up.” The misery in her voice is apparent. “Zuko – “ 

Her voice breaks and she doesn’t complete the thought. 

Oh shit. “Where are you?” Sokka tries to maintain his composure.

“It’s fine, I’m just outside our…the apartment.” He hears Katara take a shaky breath, focusing on preventing the tears from flowing. 

His phone buzzes and he lowers his phone from his ear to see a text from Zuko.

_I’ll go bunk at Azula’s. Tell her she should stay._

He inhales sharply, not looking forward to having to break this news to his sister. His phone buzzes a second time.

_I’m sorry._

He puts his ear back to the phone. “Katara. He says he’s going to go to Azula’s so you can stay.” He doesn’t bother specifying who or how he knows.

He hears Katara’s briefly regained composure crack again. 

“I can’t, Sokka. I can’t. He’s everywhere here.”

Sokka winces. “I know. I know. Listen, I’m on my way right now. I’ll be there in 10. Stay on the phone with me, okay?” 

He grabs his car keys and texts Suki. _Katara’s staying with us for a bit._

Suki’s reply is immediate: _Yay!_ And then: _wait, is everything okay?_

He frowns, unsure of how exactly to break the news over text. 

_Not exactly. You’ll see when you get home._

“Katara, I’m putting you on speakerphone okay? I’m in the car, I’m driving. I’ll be right there.”

Her voice is subdued. “Okay.” She sounds like a shell of her usual self already. 

_Fuck_ , Sokka thinks. This really was bad. He had already made his big brother peace with Zuko after he and Katara had started dating. He really trusted Zuko to take care of Katara and to do right by his sister. And besides that, Zuko was his friend too. One of his best friends.

Sokka runs a stressed hand through his hair, trying to think the aftermath of this through.

He’s stopped at a red light a few intersections from Katara’s place when he hears absolute silence from Katara’s end on the phone. And it is because his phone is on speakerphone, that he hears with perfect clarity what happens next.

“Katara.” Zuko’s unmistakable hoarse voice. He sounds like he’s been beaten up and torn apart in a thousand different ways. Which, if he and Katara broke up, is probably exactly what he feels like, Sokka knows. Even now, he doesn’t doubt for a second the strength and honesty of Katara and Zuko’s feelings for each other.

“Don’t.” His sister’s voice has turned to ice. He can practically hear the tear-stained anger on her face. 

“I’ll leave. It’s yours. The apartment.” Zuko sounds no less miserable. 

“Ours. It was ours.” Katara’s voice cracks on her words. Sokka can picture in his mind’s eye the defeated slump to Zuko’s shoulders and the desperation on his face. 

Sokka imagines Katara looking away from Zuko, avoiding eye contact, in the fear that she won’t be able to hold back the tears anymore.

“I’m – "

“Don’t you dare.” Katara snaps. “Don’t you dare be sorry, I don’t want you to be sorry, I want you to – “

And she stops. After that, neither of them says anything. They stand in silence for a moment, barely breathing and then the only sounds are of quiet, fading footsteps accompanied by the harsh sound of a roller suitcase on pavement. 

As the sound fades, Katara muffles another choked sound. “Sokka. Please. How far?”

“Right there ‘Tara, right there!” He drives like a madman but still, by the time he pulls up, there’s no sign of Zuko. Just his sister sitting on the apartment stairs looking very small and a little broken. He jumps out of the car and wraps his sister, his baby sister who he wishes he could protect from all the heartbreak and loss in the world, in the biggest hug he can, and he feels her shake in his arms, sobbing into his chest.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. It’s gonna be okay Katara. It will.”

It takes a little while, but he gets his little sister bundled up in the passenger seat of the car. He goes upstairs to grab some clothes for her and lock up the apartment she shares – she shared – with Zuko and feels his heart break again for her; the lights are still on, there’s a kettle bubbling away on the stove, and the TV is playing the news softly in the background.

He turns everything off, puts the food on the counter into the refrigerator, grabs some clothes from where he knows Katara keeps her sweats, and grabs her keys from the dresser next to the door. He casts a sad look back into the apartment before he locks the door. It looks sad and empty already.

He walks back downstairs with a heavy heart and drives his sister back home.

-

When Suki comes home, Katara is hunkered down on the couch in a giant blanket burrito, hiding from light and the outside world. 

She gets the brief bullet points from Sokka in hushed tones in the kitchen, as he makes Katara’s favorite sea prune stew. 

She puts a comforting hand on Sokka’s arm, knowing he’s not enjoying watching his sister and one of his best friends break up, and then goes to confront the blanket burrito camped out on their couch.

She sits near where she thinks Katara’s head is. “Hey.” She keeps her tone light and soft, hoping to coax some response out of the bundle of blankets. 

“C’mon Katara. Scooch over.” The heap rumbles in response. Suki takes that as an affirmative and pulls apart the blankets, to join Katara under them.

When she finds her friend in the mess of blankets, Katara feels feverishly overheated.

“Hey, honey. How’re you doing?” Suki coos, running a comforting hand down her head.

Katara lets out a sob, just one, but Suki wasn’t expecting much of a response anyways. “You’re gonna be okay. We’re gonna get through this, okay? We can stay here as long as you like.”

Katara sniffs in response. Suki smiles softly and keeps stroking Katara’s head. “Although…Sokka is making some of your favorite sea prune stew.”

There’s no response for a second and then a hoarse, tired whisper asks, “With seal jerky?”

“Just like you like it.”

Katara sniffs a little more, but Suki’s already relieved with the progress they’ve made so far. Katara deserves the time to grieve now. Suki snuggles in closer to Katara and continues comforting her, whispering reassurances, and gently stroking her hair. 

When Sokka finishes cooking, they manage to coax her head out of the blankets to get a bowl of stew into her stomach. Suki braids Katara’s hair back while she forces the stew down. Afterward, they tuck her back into her blankets and retreat quietly to their bedroom, to let her have a little privacy. They hear quiet sobs for a little while that softly fade into silence.

The next morning, a red-eyed, tear-stained Katara emerges from the couch and goes into the bathroom. She comes out freshly showered and in a new set of clothes, but her red eyes have yet to fade and there’s a blankness in her expression that Suki doesn’t recognize. Katara retreats to the couch and sits down gingerly as if worried that she might break. She sits there, unmoving, staring emptily at the ground. 

Sokka shoots Suki a concerned look, to which Suki responds with what she hopes is a reassuring smile. She goes over to Katara and plops down next to her.

“So…what are we thinking? Pancakes or French toast?”  
-  
By the third day after the breakup, Katara’s even managed to go outside on a couple of walks and get some fresh air. She’s not breathing easier exactly, but she is still breathing. However, she is getting close to running out of clothes, so it’s time to bring in the big guns.

“Hey, Sugar Queen.” The door bangs shut behind Toph. “I brought boxes.” She announces to the whole crew. 

A chorus of “Hey Toph” rings out from Sokka and Suki. The former is pacing near the couch and the latter is putting things away in the kitchen. Katara’s voice is notably absent. The empty look still lingers in her eyes.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” Sokka frets. 

Suki pokes her head out of the kitchen. “Nah, don’t worry. It’ll be a girls’ trip.”

“Yeah.” Toph chimes in, although her gaze is still fixed in Katara’s direction, looking unusually serious, considering that she isn’t actually seeing Katara. 

“Ready to go, Sugar Queen?”

Katara starts as if interrupted from a trance but doesn’t reply. 

Toph’s unseeing eyes narrow, hearing the unsaid “no.” 

“Snoozles. Go put the boxes in the car, will you?” Sokka nods, looking worried, but goes to do as instructed.

Toph moves closer to Katara, but her voice stays at its normal tone. “Katara.” Still no response from Katara. 

“I know you and Sparky thought you were _it_.” Katara flinches at the very mention of the elephant in the room.

“But here’s the thing, Sugar Queen. _You_ are it. You’re the strongest person I know and you’re the only person you need.”

Katara looks up, a little dazed and a little lost. “But I wanted _him_.” The unspoken continuation to her statement echoes around the room: she wanted him, his joy and his tears, his strengths and his flaws, his present, and his future. She wanted him to be her future. 

Toph crosses her arms. “We don’t always get what we want.” She says simply. “You are all you need, Katara. You’re the boss, Sugar Queen, and it’s time to act like it.”

Katara’s hands fly up to her face, but this time it’s not to cover any tears. She takes a deep breath and nods slowly.

She stands up from the couch and her voice is calmer and more centered. “Let’s go.”

It takes several hours, a few “bathroom breaks,” and more than a couple of shots of vodka, but Suki, Toph, and Katara manage to pack up all of Katara’s things into a stack of boxes and a few different pieces of luggage. They move the boxes into a storage unit and ferry the luggage back to Toph’s, who has an extra room Katara can use for a bit. 

-

When it’s all done, they stand in the middle of the half-empty apartment, with Zuko’s stuff strewn all over the place. His clothes are untouched, his books remain scattered across the various surfaces of the apartment, and his toiletries sit alone in the bathroom cabinet. 

Katara looks around the place like she’s seeing ghosts in every corner, which she might as well be. 

“What are you gonna do with the place?” Toph asks.

Katara swallows back a ball of grief and regret as she tries to memorize every happy memory of every nook and cranny to reply. “Our lease was up next month anyways. That’s…that’s what started our fight.”

Neither Suki nor Toph push the topic, not prying, but silently allowing her to continue.

“I got the Doctors Without Borders position I applied for.”

Toph asks, a little confused, “That’s good, right?”

“They wanted to send me to the Middle East. For a year.”

Suki lets out a soft “Katara.”

“He said I should go. That he’d find another person to share the lease with for the year.” Her voice turns bitter as she continued. 

“He said he didn’t wanna “hold me back.” He said he knew it was I’d always wanted.” She lets out a harsh, ugly laugh.

“I said we should discuss it. I wasn’t sure I wanted to…He said he wouldn’t let me throw away this kind of opportunity for him. And I said, “what do you mean, you won’t let me?” and we just…” She shook her head, half in disbelief, half in grief.

“We just imploded from there.” Katara laughs again, but there are tears streaming down her face this time. She’s not sure when they started. “God, we just…”

She looks up despondently at Suki and Toph. “We broke up.” She repeats, feeling it really hit her, truly, deeply, and fully. And suddenly, the tears won’t stop again.

“Oh, Katara.” Suki moves in for a hug. “Get in here, Toph, this is a group hug.”

Toph scoffs but obliges. After a few moments of silence, Toph chirps up, “Okay, Sugar Queen, we gotta get some more water in you before you get dehydrated.”  
Katara laughs, even through her tears. 

“It’s gonna be okay.” Suki promises. And for the first time, Katara thinks she might actually believe it.

-

“Zuzu.”

Azula’s voice is harsh and grates on his ears. She mercilessly switches on the light, ignoring his hiss of discomfort and his movement to dive further under the covers.

“It’s been three days. It’s starting to _smell_ in here.”

Azula sighs, seeing the state he’s in. “Come on, Zuzu. She’s just a girl. And you haven’t eaten in 3 days. You need to pull it together.”

“Go away, Azula.” He grumbles from underneath the covers. 

Azula sighs again, but thankfully, mercifully leaves the room. Zuko mistakenly thinks she’s leaving him be. 

Half an hour later, there’s a slight commotion in the other rooms and he thinks he hears someone say, “He’s in there,” but he chooses to determinedly ignore it and continue to try to find oblivion under the covers. 

Several footsteps later, there’s an odd silence.

“Hey, Zuko.” Zuko almost groans and tries to make himself disappear in the bed.

“Azula texted me. Can you believe that?” Aang chuckles. “ _Azula_ texted me.”

“I’m sorry she bothered you. You can go now.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Come on man, we gotta put you back together.”

Zuko groans. “Can’t be done. I’m just going to stop existing right here, right now.”

Aang laughs. “Sorry, man. I’m not gonna let you do that.”

“You’re the worst.” Zuko grumbles. He turns over in bed, slowly coming to terms with the realization that Aang probably isn’t going to leave him alone anytime soon.

“So…is this it, then? Did I get you in the break-up and she got everyone else?” Zuko winces, regretting the words immediately as they come out of his mouth.

He can hear Aang’s disapproval. “You know that’s not how it is.”

Zuko’s wince deepens and he lets out a “Sorry” that Aang doesn’t stop to acknowledge.

“Besides,” Aang continues, sounding too wise for his young age. “If there’s anyone who knows how to get over being a mess after breaking up with Katara, I’m pretty sure I’m your guy.”

Zuko stills. He hadn’t forgotten exactly but…he kind of had. He tentatively pokes his head out from under the covers to make sure Aang doesn’t look upset.

Aang’s grey eyes, full of compassion, meet his gaze. “There you are,” he teases. “I wasn’t sure if that was you under there or you and at least fifty different stuffed animals.”

“You’re not mad, are you?” Zuko ventures. 

Aang smiles with kindness in a way only he can do. “No, not mad. Although, if you don’t shower soon, my eyes might start watering, and then it’ll really look like I’m crying.”  
Zuko doesn’t move for a moment. Aang steps closer and holds out an arm.

“Come on. I’ll help you into the shower.” Zuko looks at the outstretched arm with a level of dejection he doesn’t think he could ever put properly into words.

Aang’s words are soft but confident. “It gets better. Every day from here. Bit by bit.”

Zuko takes his arm and goes to try to shower off his unhappiness. 

-

When he makes it back to their – _the_ apartment, she is already gone.

There’s no trace of her anywhere - like she was a dream or a fantasy he made up.

Her hideous favorite rug, the matching plate set that both she and Sokka got as graduation gifts from their Gran-Gran and even her coconut-scented shampoo have all just disappeared. They’re all just gone. Like they were never there.

When the realization hits him, he resists the urge to fall to his knees, conscious of the fact that Aang and Azula are watching him from behind, eying him with a mix of pity and concern. He keeps his eyes fixed on the floor, terrified of what memory might be triggered by what random objects remain in the apartment.

“Ty Lee and Mai will be here in 20 to help us move everything.” Azula announces after they’ve been standing in silence for a few minutes.

“Do you have somewhere to go?” Aang asks. Zuko can tell Aang’s already going through all the possible options he can come up with for where Zuko can stay.

Azula interrupts before Zuko can even think of some feeble excuse to keep back Aang’s sympathy.

“He’ll stay with me.” There’s no room for argument in her tone. It’s her 100% bossy little sister voice that used to drive Zuko crazy when they were kids because it meant she’d get whatever she wanted. But for once, he’s grateful for the authority of it.

He nods a slow affirmation, trying to come to terms with how his world had shifted on its axis so quickly in the last three days.

Zuko walks into their bedroom to start packing up his clothes and almost bursts into tears right then and there.

It still smells like her. Like she’d just left the room, maybe to grab a snack from the kitchen or run down to the convenience store up the street.

He looks around slowly, half-expecting Katara to just pop out of the bathroom or peek out from the closet. But the room is empty of everything except his clothes and his ghosts.

He almost loses it again when he finds her favorite pillow fallen forgotten behind the couch. He picks it up, and clenches it in his fists, wishing he could make it disappear into nothing, the way she did. 

A steady hand on his back brings him back. “Zuko.” Aang’s hands make their way to Zuko’s and loosen the death grip he has on the pillow.

“Give it to her. Please.” Zuko grits through his teeth. Aang just nods.

“Bit by bit, Zuko.” Aang reminds him. “Bit by bit.”

Aang makes the pillow disappear and Azula comes over to find Zuko.

“Come on, Zuzu.” She drags him to the kitchen where she’s set up the trashcan at one end and piled up all the unsalvageable food on the table. 

“Two points if you make it into the trashcan from the front of the table, four if it’s from behind the table. And six, if you can make it into the trash from the other side of the countertop.”

Zuko almost laughs, but he doesn’t think he’s ready yet.

Bit by bit.

-

He’s been hiding from everything for a month when it all comes crashing down.

He’s sitting in the Jasmine Dragon, slumped over at the counter, trying one of his uncle’s new blends, when Toph finds him.

“Hey, Sparky.” 

“Toph.” He deflates immediately. He knows that before any of them were his friends, they were hers. He knows that he can’t expect anything - that when Katara left him, so did some of his closest friends.

“What’s with the long face and grumpy vibes?” Toph questions, characteristically insensitive

Zuko stares at her a little dumbfounded because he’s not even sure where exactly to begin. To his surprise, he watches as she settles comfortably into the seat next to him.

“What?” Toph questions. “You think just because you got rid of Sugar Queen, you’re gonna get rid of the rest of us? Fat chance.”

Zuko’s still staring disbelievingly at her, not quite processing what she’s saying.

“You’re…not mad at me?”

Toph taps the counter thoughtfully. “Mad? No. Is everything a hell of a lot more complicated now? Yeah. But you’re not getting rid of us that easily, Sparky. You’re still Sparky.”

Zuko feels something loosen in his chest and maybe, just maybe, a tiny spark of hope.

And then that spark is promptly squashed by a second realization. He slumps over further in his seat.

“Sokka probably hates me. He’ll never forgive me.”

“Snoozles? Nah. He’s worried. About you and Sugar Queen. You two were always the happiest when you were together. But he doesn’t hate you.”

Zuko turns this over in his head, as Toph continues.

“Plus, you forget that he respects Sugar Queen and trusts her to make her own decisions. If she wanted to give you a piece of her mind, she would. He doesn’t need to defend her honor or anything. You should talk to him soon though. I think he misses you.”

Zuko nods slowly as he considers this, and then finds his lips mouthing the words he’s most scared to say.

“How is she?”

Toph taps the counter a few times before answering. “I don’t think I’m the one you should be asking if you really want to know.”

Zuko sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “You’re right.”

“I usually am.” They sit in companionable silence until Iroh brings Toph a cup of her favorite tea and the two exchange brief pleasantries. After Iroh leaves to attend to his other customers, Toph turns back to Zuko.

“Why did you two break up anyways?”

“Didn’t she tell you?”

“She told me her side. But I want to hear it from you.”

“She wanted to go abroad and help people. And I didn’t want to be the thing keeping her from doing that.” Zuko sighs again.

“Okay, well she’s going abroad – "

“She is?” Zuko interrupts. He should feel happy for her – and he is and more than a little proud too, but he’s always felt that way about Katara. At the same time, he feels a pit of dread start to reopen in his gut.

“Yeah, she is. So, you both got what you wanted. She’s going abroad and you’re not holding her back or whatever. So why are you broken up?”

Zuko stares at her again, once more shocked into silence. Toph has a habit of doing that to people.

“It’s not like that, Toph. If we were still together, it’d be a lot messier. For both of us.”

“Right, because this isn’t messy at all.” Zuko doesn’t have a good response to that.

“All I’m saying, Zuko, is that for two people who got what they wanted, I’ve never seen either of you more miserable.”

Zuko sits there unable to come up with a good response.

His mind is racing, but all he can come up with is a bewildered “You’ve never seen either of us, Toph. You’re blind.”

“Oh, haha, Sparky.” Toph deadpans. “Of course, _now’s_ when you grow a sense of humor. I’m serious, Zuko. Do you want to be with her?”

The answer’s instinctual, he doesn’t even hesitate to consider it. “Yes.” Of course.

“Does she want to be with you?” 

Now, he hesitates. Maybe before, but now? “I don’t know.” He admits.

“Exactly, Sparky. And how could you find out?”

Zuko can tell Toph’s trying to build up to a point, but the only answer he can come up with sounds stupid.

“I guess I could…theoretically, at least, ask her.”

Toph points at him exasperatedly. “Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner! You need to ask the girl what she wants instead of guessing it or assuming it.”

Zuko’s still kind of in shock from the obvious truths Toph has just dropped on him.

“Toph. I think you’re right.”

“I know! I’ve been saying that all along!”

“Toph. When is she leaving?”

Toph takes a big slurp of tea. “Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Zuko's voice jumps two octaves and several decibels. “Why didn’t you…why didn’t you blow my mind earlier?”

“Hey, you were the one who was hiding. I was trying to find you, but as you’ve pointed out, I _am_ blind.”

Zuko hops up from his seat. “Toph, I have to go. I have to find her.” For the first time in a month, he feels his blood racing through his veins.

“You do.” She observes calmly.

“Where is she?”

“Packing her stuff at my place.” Zuko nods to acknowledge hearing her, but his mind is clearly already somewhere else.

“I should go, Toph.” He repeats, more to himself than to her.

“Yeah, Sparky, you should.”

He turns to go, then stops, and turns back. 

“What if I ruin it all, Toph? What if I already have?” He poorly disguises the tremble in his voice.

Toph’s expression softens. “You won’t know unless you ask.”

He nods again slowly, processing the truth in her words, and finally, turns to leave.

“Honestly,” Toph shakes her head. “I’m starting to wonder who’s really the blind one around here.”

-

There’s a knock on the door, just as she’s finishing zipping up her last suitcase. 

“I’m coming, Sokka, hang on!” She yells, hoping the sound carries far enough through the walls.

She dusts her hands off, feeling satisfied with her packing progress, before heading to the door to let Sokka in.

She opens the door for Sokka, already talking fast. She has so much to do before she leaves tomorrow.

“I already told Suki that – "

The door swings open and she freezes because it’s not Sokka on the other side of the door.

He looks just like he did the last time she saw him. It’s only been a month, she reminds herself. There are darker shadows under his eyes, signs of a sleeplessness that she knows is mirrored on her face too. His hands are shoved awkwardly in his pockets and when he sees her, he freezes too, which is ridiculous, because who else was he expecting to open the door?

 _Well, it could have been Toph_ , her unhelpfully rational brain points out, but that’s ridiculous because he hasn’t been by all month. He had to have known it would be her. So, what’s his excuse for freezing up when the door opens?

“Katara.” His voice is almost a whisper, his tone almost reverential. As if he’d forgotten what it was like to say her name. His eyes are bright and earnest, looking at her with the warmth he’d always reserved just for her.

She flinches involuntarily, remembering the last time she’d hear her name in his mouth.

 _Don’t_ , she’d said. _Do_ , is what she wants to say now. _Do what?_ Her brain questions. _Something. Anything._

What she wants is to throw herself into his arms. To feel his comforting warmth and relive what it was like to be held and touched and loved. 

What she does is stand there stiffly, terrified that she’ll disrupt the precarious balance between them. 

They’re both standing there just on either side of the doorway, hesitating. Paralyzed with the fear of breaking whatever’s between them. If it’s not already broken, that is.

Then, like a dam bursting, they both blurt out at the same time.

“I should’ve asked.” “I missed you.”

Katara watches his eyes light up and knows hers have too, with the hope of possibility, with the chance that they haven’t broken completely yet.

He goes first. “I should’ve asked what you wanted, Katara. I’m so sorry. I was just so scared that you might end up resenting me for limiting you.”

Katara feels something swoop in her stomach. But she’s not mad. Not at all. “You should have asked. I love you, Zuko. And that’s my choice to make. And I know you would always want me to follow my heart. That’s why I love you. But sometimes, the place my heart wants to go is to you.”

And then she does exactly what she wants to do. She steps forward and wraps her arms around his familiar, solid warmth and she feels his arms move to reciprocate. For a moment, she wishes she could just stay here forever, but she knows their lives were never going to be that simple.

She steps back and she feels her heart shatter all over again at how soft he looks, how in-love and hopeful he looks. A look that she knows and feels echoed on her face and body.

She steps back again, into the apartment.

“I think you should come in.”  
-

**Author's Note:**

> happy endings >> "subverting expectations" every time!
> 
> hope you enjoyed!


End file.
